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Monday, May 24, 2010

LOST: Discuss "THE END" Until the Recap is Ready

Hey guys, obviously this recap is going to take awhile, so I wanted to give you the opportunity to start discussing your reactions to the episode. I'm not going to be able to respond to anything here because I'll be busy writing! I may chime in here and there but it will only delay the recap!

446 comments:

Comment for Lost Finale: Wow. The last episode was perfect up to the last 15 minutes. Then, it was pretty good. Probably the best way to end the series. I approve :) one last 4 8 15 16 23 42 (execute). See you in another life, Brotha.

Was impressed with the ending. My wife tells everyone to read Heinrich von Kleist's 10 pp. "Uber das Marionettentheater," which pretty much sums things up. Also similar to Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" Series. My wife has seen only the pilot and the last 4 or 5 episodes and nailed the ending. My wife is smart.

one word for the final episode: epic. thank you to the lost producers for giving us a true ending. in their actual lives, all of them had unresolved issues. in purgatory, they all found what they were missing in their real lives. closure. love. peace. and now they are ready to move on to. except linus, of course. and by the way, what happened to walt?.....

Wow Not one of my questions was answered! Thanks guys! Worst ending imaginable I read a quote from the writers a while back and they said the show had nothing to do with death or dying or heaven or hell Are politicians writing this show ? Why was MIB black smoke? What do the numbers mean? Why didnt MIB have a name? Why was the most bumbling inept character chosen to protect the stupid island? Jacks son suddenly does not exist? Bummer for Jack Why would someone build a lighthouse? Why wouldn't MIB just kill all the dharma people before they installed the fences? If you can into smoke and fly then why are you walking everywhere? Doesnt make sense people

I think they all died at various times. Jack died tonight, and everyone was there to greet him. They were all there for him, all the people who were important to him, were there. Great ending with Jack closing his eye. First show was Jack opening his eye with Vincent by his side.

MikeIm at a friends .I was told during the second act that they will be reairing the end next saturday and that Hulu wouldnt have it up tomorrow. So I went over and watched it at one of the sound guys I know house.

Thank god for TiVo how many commercial were there?

Dont forget who called Julia as Suns baby docotor

even if it was in heavens waiting room.lolseriously I expected more but at least they didnt mess up the first partlol.Ill have more tomorrow I have to get home

I hate that the ending is from Jack's perspective. One of the reasons I loved this show is that there isn't a main character, but several main story lines and characters. To focus the last episode on Jack is a bit of a shortcoming to say the least. Would love to know what became oh Sawyer, Kate and Richard. Did they live long, happy lives or did their plane crash before making it to land?? We'll never know....

Cleary the sideways world was purgatory, the island was indeed real. Once everyone "found" each other in sideways world, they left prugatory. Jack's son never actually exsisted as his life in sideways world was never real. Church clearly heaven (symbols of all the world's major religions on stain glass window.) Not bad.

I absolutely agree with those of you who did not like this ending. What the heck happened over the last 6 years? It seems at the end they were trying to say that everyone died on impact when the plane crashed, but why did they present all of these questions throughout the seasons and what the was with the numbers and the MIB and Jacob. Were they even real or all in Jack's dying mind?

the best possible ending... it was the ULTIMATE ending to all. not a "kate austin is now on trial for yada yada yada and waits for a sentence", but THE end.I guess Jacob's words from last season suit perfectly this ending: everything ends once, all that comes after that is just progress"

I think that Walt will be added to the "Jack's tattoo" list of "... I kinda not like it now" things in Lost.

I now get that the show was really from Jack's perspective - about him coming to terms with himself and his life. However, I still don't get why we needed the dharma initiative, the time travelling, the numbers, etc. Was that all real? When they got off of the island for the first time, was that real? When they returned for a second time, was that real? I like the finale, but there's still so much left to figure out...

We got what the writers of the show are trying to say.Beautiful, profound and moving ending.It made perfect sense if one is familiar with Catholic theology/spirituality.Sideways land is "outside of time".Ben and Eloise wanting to linger on a little bit longer before "moving on" - presumably on their own, like Christian Shepherd - was very moving.The questions regarding Walt etc., do not matter at the end of the day.

Good call about Walt, Jim. Damon and Carlton said we'd see him in the finale. So that's kinda bizarre.

But I totally agree with the anonymous who said they all died at different times.

I think many kinda thought that Juliet would be brought in to look at Sun's baby at some point. But the way they did it was awesome .

Come on though, how many times did I say that Jack's eye closing with a musical montage leading up to it was the only true way to end LOST? How great was that call!? lol Yeah, pretty predictable I know...but still!

I also had pondered that perhaps the sideways timeline had something to do with the ghosts that were visiting Hurley....(not the whispers on the island of course but the other ghosts like Ana lucia and Charlie) Not sure if that's actually the case but it opens up some possibilities maybe even with Ghost Christian showing up off island and on the freighter telling Michael "he can go"....

Yeah..people are obviously gonna be upset that a lot of time was spent this season on that reveal....but I'm totally cool with it. They were all together in the end....they all died at different times....but time does not matter in that place so it all seemed to happen at the same time. Definitely an interesting way to go with it and I definitely want to rewatch season 6 again! lol

As for the Island timeline....it was awesome. Yes, there were going to be questions left at the end...many of the questions that the one anonymous post brought up...they were never going to be answered. And for anyone looking for those answers, OF COURSE you're going to be upset. There will be 20 minutes of additional storyline on the DVD that will answer some things....maybe that's where Walt will show up since he wasn't in the show....i dunno.

Anyway, it sucks that the fans will be split in 2 .....maybe that will change over time. A lot of people hated the sopranos ending immediately after but then came around on it. (yes, I know some people still hate it) I think with some thought and some discussion about this episode and the entire series as a whole....maybe people will start to see that it was a fitting conclusion. It's really tough to end TV shows. Damon and Carlton said that season 5 was the "get your geek on" season...but then, being spiritual people, the final season was going to be very spiritual. So, that's what we got! Take it or leave it!

Anyway, that's my "PREVIEW" lol I finished Kimmel....loved the ALT ENDINGS....now I have to start writing my swan song! The final recap! It's going to be as epic as that finale! Hopefully I won't bawl my eyes out as much as I did during the episode!

It's definitely going to take a lot of time, and I DO plan on sleeping. So please, be patient! And I apologize in advance if I don't respond to all the comments in this post, or if you end up having to repeat yourself in the recap because I didn't read them! lol This is the best compromise I could think of to meet the needs of people needing to vent IMMEDIATELY! :-) NAMASTE and will get you a recap as soon as humanly possible!

I honestly loved it! I loved how they brought so many people back! I can't wait to read Mike's recap tomorrow and will be back for.How everyone dies at different times b/c there isn't time after you pass on. Also the writers said they weren't going to answer everything so i wasn't expecting to learn ever inch of their lives.Sam

i have yet to see a show that was "ended" end well. writers just don't have the ability to cleanly rap up stories. the fake you out with "it was a dream"or "fade to black". and , why ask questions just to NOT answer them?

If the island was real then they didn't answer any questions. Why did the island move? Why was the dharma there? Why were Richards people there ("others")? What happened to walt and his dad? Why was penny in the church at the end.... LAME... So many questions!

If the island was purgatory then the whole series was a waste of time to watch because most of the cliff hanging stuff that happened was redundant.

Okay people...let's get this straight. EVERYTHING HAPPENED! The Island timeline was REAL! That was their lives! The sideways timeline was what happened when they all died at different times in their lives...they all came to this "MEETING PLACE" (i'd really hate to use the word purgatory! LOL)

And you know what this means, right? The Incident ALWAYS happened! Whatever happened, happened reigns supreme!

Okay...I'm really done (oh man...this is gonna be tough to fight the temptation to respond to everything!)

I might help those who think that this ending was that horrible ending people always talked about, the "okey, they are all dead and nothing was real" ending.All we saw the last 6 years was real, as Christian said to Jack, THAT was the important part in everyone's life. The flashsideways line was the (let's call it) waiting room where those guys waited for the those people that were with them on the island, because they were important to each other. We all saw them with lives a bit better than the ones they had before the island because that's what they made.Beautiful touch Christian opening the door so they could move on since he was the reason for Jack to be on the plane and, therefore, the catalist for this show.

This was such a predictable easy way out. The writers clearly just made up random stuff as they went along and decided at the end that they were too lazy to tie it all together. Totally pathetic. Leaving 90% of questions unanswered is not beautiful, it is simply bad writing.

WoW that was so epic and its sad some many people didn't get the ending i thought lost fans were smarter but there always haters and to them hate on but your missing out .............but enough of that i cried alot it was very moving and the island was real the sideways was heaven or purgatory and no they didnt died in the plane crash time has no meaning in purgatory or heaven so thats why they were all in purgatory or whatever at the same time if i died today and u in like 20years died it wouldnt seem like anytime for me to see you in the afterlife so with that See you in another life, Brotha

For a show that knew the ending from the start you would thing they would be able to answer a lot more questions! Why would they leave so much left up in the air and spend over half of the time for the finale making flashbacks? COME ON!

Wow! I have never been so emotionally involved with a tv show. I cried, laughed, held my breath and scratched my head over the past 2 ½ hours. It was a great way for the show to go out, it didn’t focus on the little things that weren’t important, it gave us room to debate and interpret the meaning for years to come.

Every post that tries to say this was a satisfying ending is very defensive because they know that almost nothing was answered. It was terrible. Why did we have to go through 6 seasons for this? 90% of questions left unanswered. They didn't know where they were going with this and took the easiest way out by not explaining anything!

So from the very first season the primary question on everyone's minds was, "what is the purpose of the island?" After all is said in done, the question still on everyone's minds is "what is the purpose of the island". It isn't simply to keep "evil" (i.e.smoky) out of the world, because if that were the case there would be no need to protect the island before or after smokey existed.

At the very least, everyone should have been able to say, "The purpose of the island is........" with an answer of course.

I loved it. I was talking to a neighbour of mine, Hans, in season 2 about the possibility of them been dead and living the life in between. I have listen to radio programs about EVP's, paranormal and stuff. Boy was I on the money. I was inspired by the fact that to fall off that height and survive was impossible and the 6th Sense.

In the recap I was proven right about the Locke clues and connection to Smokey. Ben is alright and Frank and yest I got the answers I was looking for.

For me it was a good ride, I got invested in the characters and the showmanship and they didn't let me down. Of course I could look for loopholes and stuff, but why not enjoy the ride and make my own answers and be thankful for a very beautiful show for the past 6 years.

My hat off and congrats and Thank you to all who participated in this beautiful journey called Lost.

I did not sent a good-by note. For me the show will live forever in glory and as long as there's a movie rental store, a Internet based way to watch it again, or my own dvd or blue-ray player, Lost will live forever adn never have to say Good-By. Beside the song in Jimmy Kimmel, candidate, there's your final music selection of mine for Lost.

Thank you Mike for giving us a chance to meet here, thank you Mike for all the work you put in and Thank you to all of you who read the posts - mine included and contributed for all that was worth.

I think that it's ridiculous to be upset about the lack of answers. Everyone said that they couldn't possibly answer everything. I think Lost was much like life itself. In life, there are questions that will never be answered. Circumstances that exist that you must deal with and you'll never understand/know their origins. The answers themselves don't matter. The finale wouldn't have been as satisfying if they spent the whole thing serving out answers on a silver platter.

THE END WHAT A JOKE,WASTE OF MY TIME.6 SEASONS WERE JACKS HALLUCINATIONS AS HE LAY DIEING FROM THE PLANE CRASH,COME ON GIVE ME A BREAK.JULIET WAS NEVER ON THE PLANE,YET SHE ENDS UP AT THE END HOW???? PENNY WAS NEVER ON THE PLANE EITHER YET BOTH HER AND JULIET PASS OVER TOGETHER.WHAT ABOUT ALL THE OTHER PEOPLE ON THE PLANE THEY ALL STILL RUNNING AROUND IN PURGATORY....

So shocked how many people are misinterpreting the end. Of course...maybe I'm misinterpreting it! Oh well, maybe it will make sense after I get the recap out there. It's gonna take forever at this rate though! lol

the question about the purpose of the island was answered on "across the sea": it is to protect the light at the center of the island. what is the light? is the light that's in every person, is life, dead, rebirth.In the final episode we saw the light in the island, but we saw it as rebirth when christian opens the door.

we got no answer for the source of walt's powers, the meaning of the numbers (even though we might say that they are the values of the valenzetti ecuation) and we still don't know who built the statue, but... come on! we do know that the island is old and that people has come to the island through the years so... And, after all, that wasn't the center of the series, we got an answer relative to the importance of the question.

The writers said all along that they couldn't answer all the questions. They said they were done with the numbers. several of the "flaws" some of you have brought up were clearly answered. for example...MIB is smoke because he got tossed into the heart of the island. it may not make perfect sense, but it's Lost. nothing does.i loved the ending. so symbolic and deep. absolutely fantastic. if they'd answered every single question, there would be no discussion and no FREE WILL in what we choose to think, both of which were HUGE parts of Lost. i i thought it was great.that being said, i'm slightly confused about the idea of a "waiting room". i've got all the pieces, and most of them are put in place, but a few don't seem to fall where they should. i'm looking forward to your review.Thank you Lost, for 6 years of questions and confusion. in a society where we demand immediate and final gratification, this sort of ending is a pleasant change. You'll be missed!Namaste.

BTW we know that the show wasn't an hallucination of jack because of vincent. he's there but that's no the exact first take. That and what Christian said, that what they lived on the island was the important part of their lives... c'mon, we all know that they didn't have much of a full life before the island and that was the reason why Jacob chose them.

To those saying it is shocking to be upset about the lack of answers, well why didn't they just make sex toys fly across the sky and Kate have an alien come out of her head. I mean, the way this ended the writers could write ANYTHING into any given episode and just not explain it. This was not a satisfying conclusion. It was lazy writing. They made up a bunch of stuff and decided they could not explain it so took an easy way out.

Did I say that I know I'm correct? Didn't I say that maybe I'm misinterpreting?

To me, it just seemed very clear what their intentions were with the Sideways. Now whether people agree with it or not....that's a whole different debate. But people are arguing that the Island timeline was not real. Even Dead Christian told Jack that that was ALL REAL! So, that is what is confusing me. Why people are jumping to that conclusion.

the bomb never went off (the flash at the end of season 5 was just the time changing again, hence why juliet was found after the shift), the 'sideways flashes' were a sort of purgatory from the very beginning, not a result of the bomb. those on the island went on living after the failure of the bomb. purgatory was a place where they could fix the mistakes they had made in real life, and learn to let go of anything that still haunted them, with the help of the others from the island. desmond is the one who connected them because he's aware of both worlds, given that he's the constant. he wasn't afraid of 'death' when going into the cavern, as he knew he would be going to sideways land to meet his loved ones. sideways land was a spiritual place, and ben and eloise couldn't pass on because they hadn't come to terms with what they had done in life. the reason they were waiting for jack, even though he died before/after many of them, was because there is no 'time' in purgatory and they were just waiting for him to remember them so they could all move on. each one remembers, as they are helped by someone from their past to awaken. BEST ENDING EVERRRRR AHHHHHH

Also, if they created this place so they could all find each other, why did they make it so that they would not remember each other? Kind of contrived....disappointing ending for many other reasons as well though.

So this is what I'm getting from the finale, all of the losties died when the plane crashed, so the island was a type of purgatory, but it gave them one last chance of redemption, and at the end was them passing and making it into "heaven"?

well if you're gonna go with that argument then go one step further and ask how they even "created the place" in the first place. I don't think Christian mean they physically created this meeting place. I think it was more because they all shared the same important time in their lives....but there was still something they needed to accomplish before getting to that point. Definitely plenty of stuff to debate and discuss. Maybe we'll be enlightened together.

But totally understandable if people are annoyed and want to throw away 6 awesome years of storytelling because of the final 10 minutes not being what they expected. Didn't mean for that to come off condescending lol Really, I do get why people are upset. But, I enjoyed it. And I'll try to elaborate more if I ever get into that recap!

Still not getting why people think the whole thing was purgatory! This must be the last laugh that Damon and Carlton are getting LOL The ISLAND TIMELINE WAS REAL! The Sideways was REAL!

If anything was like purgatory, it would be SIDEWAYS.....the Island timeline everyone was alive. It was the important time in their lives. Sideways...everyone was dead...but they had to become enlightened and LET GO and come to terms with what has happened? WHY? I have no idea...I need to think about that. But SIDEWAYS was where time didn't exist....and where everyone was dead.

But...again...maybe that's just one interpretation! It just seemed so clear to me that this is what it was!

we might find the reason why they don't remember each other in that they (personally I think that's only the theoretical proposal of the writers) have to accept things. we saw jack having the visions of the island three times in the last episode.To heal locke (jack as a doctor, and locke as the one that was right about the purpose of all that happened) wasn't enough. Kate (jack as a loving man, and kate as the woman he loves) wasn't enough, he needed to touch his father's coffin to accept things because that's his main issue and we all know that he has daddy issues. Christian was the white rabbit (I know I'm using an image that's really about the MIB leading them towards him but you get the "guide" idea) that took him to the island by fate.they don't remember each other because they just have to remember and to accept their lives, then they can move on, but all together and not alone.

Hi all! Longtime LOST watcher, first time LOST blog reader, and *definitely* first time LOST blog poster.

A lot of people are upset because the island's purpose/nature/mythology wasn't explained. I have a possible explanation (sorry if this theory has been posted before, I've never read a LOST blog so this is all original thought even if it's not a unique thought). My theory isn't 100% airtight, but I think it's pretty good so I'll share it for discussion and feedback.

The island is the spot where God touches and connects with the physical world. The waterfall/white light is the specific point from which God's influence flows out. Poster Jaime Runyan wanted a 1 sentence answer for "The purpose of the island is..." Well, the purpose of the island is to allow God to have an impact on humanity and the world.

Of course, in Judeo-Christian beliefs God's influence is not absolute. He merely gave man the *capacity* to do good, and left it up to each of us to choose that path. Thus, the island has both the capacity to influence the world for good or for bad, depending on who's in control of it. So the good guys protect it in order to protect the whole world, but Jacob's original sin (how's that for mixing your biblical metaphors?) of killing his brother and throwing him down the waterfall created the ultimate evil. It is only Jacob's continued repentance and righteousness that keeps the evil from spreading. But Jacob (like every character on the show) is not 100% good, so he can't eradicate the evil forever. It's an open question whether ANYONE is good enough to eradicate the island's evil potential forever, although the answer to that question is much more likely to be "no, they can't" then, "yes, someone could." Jack and Desmond didn't, they just contained the evil, and we don't know about Hurley's time there.

So the island has mystical powers (healing, trapping SOME purgatory-bound souls [ie the whisperers]) because it's influenced so heavily by God since it's his connection point to the world. All the people who come to the island come either because they were called there for a purpose (protecting God/the island) or because they are crusader-types who are trying to find ultimate answers. The first group includes Jacob/MIB, Richard, the Losties, the Temple people etc. The latter group of people includes the Dharma, Ben, Wigmore, and the people that MIB was digging with, etc. Both are there for their own reasons, and obviously the show is pretty straightforward about who's reasons are better/more righteous.

The major problem with this theory is, of course, the time travel thing. I don't understand how the time travel fits into the island's mythology. That's really the only thing stopping me from considering the final season -- and really the show as a whole -- an unvarnished success. If someone can explain why/how the island and the Losties travel through time, I will be eternally grateful. Pun intended.

I think the people who didn't like the finale didn't understand it. And that's not a slam on anyone. I am slowly starting to figure it out and I absolutely loved it, and found it very satisfying. The island was where everyone was coming to grips with their deaths. The Others were taking a long time to accept it, which is why Ben still isn't ready. I'm not even ready to totally analyze it yet... all I can say is WOW WOW WOW and I for one am extremely satisfied with the ending.

I loved that the inner turmoil of these characters was resolved, but I am left baffled by the following things: When the Island moved, where did it go? Why was the Island shown as sunken at the beginning of this season for the sideways world? Why were the children taken in season 1? Why the time traveling? What is THE GAME and THE RULES? Who really is Eloise and why did she have a Dharma station in LA? What happened to Richard when he left the Island? Is Ben the new protector of the Island? How did the Dharma people get to the Island and what pupose did they serve? Why the numbers? Was Whidmore a good guy or a bad guy and what happened to him in the Sideways World? I feel a bit betrayed that I have no resolution to these things....

@Anonymous 2:33....see...I loved the episode and I totally did not interpret it that way at all! If you replaced the word "ISLAND" with "SIDEWAYS and said that the Sideways was people coming to grips with their deaths...then YES...I'd totally agree with you!

The Island story HAPPENED. The stakes of the 6 seasons were REAL. The Sideways story....well it KINDA happened...but it's all after they all died. They all died at different times in their lives. Claire probably got off the island and raised aaron....kate had a life...sawyer had a life... Hurley and Ben stayed on the island for awhile (hence him telling Ben he was a great #2 in Sideways land).....I just don't see any other way it can be.

But seriously...i need to go to bed...keep on debating folks...and I'll get the recap up eventually!

read the posts about island being real and sideways being purgatory, makes alot more sense now, pretty satisfied with this ending, i've gone back and fourth like 10 times now, but I think this was kind of the ONLY way to end the show

That was so much fun... till the last 10 minutes!!! The whole episode was amazing and everything I hoped for, then... there was that weird spiritual journey ending! Ugh I still love the show but the very end was just not what I wanted... whateverz LOST will always have a place in my heart :) 3 cheers for Juliet and Sawyer <3

@Okie I think is a very good question the one about the sunken island on sideways. I'd answer that it is what the 815 passengers thought as the only way of not falling, a sort of "what if there were no island"; there is no such a thing as a no - island, so a sunken island after the blast sounds nice.The children were taken because the others can't have children, I think it might be one of the rules or a side effect of "the incident".The time traveling can be explained pretty much the same as the island moving, the island moves because it is an island meant to be hidden for it has "the source".The game and the rules are just the inheritance Jacob and MIB got from their mother, she made it so they can't kill each other and MIB told Jacob that he can make his own rules if he ever has his own game, he's the guardian of the island, he makes the rules.Eloise is in the lamp post station, the station designed to find the island (we know that the DI has to have found the island once). We don't know what happened to Richard after the island, we DO know that he's getting older for the gray hair that Miles found.Hurley is the new jacob and Ben is the new Richard.The numbers... we do not know, we do know that they are values on the valenzetti equation and that they are in life, I guess they're kind of a pi number for the show.About Widmore we know that he was just a guy looking to get back to the island and that to accomplish that he did a lot of "bad" things, we only know that THE bad guy in this show was the MIB. I didn't see him on the church on sideways timeline, he might be there but I think not. He was only uber important for Ben and Ben is not ready to move on yet.I think that there're not so many open questions and even less (I haven't found any) important or necessary answers not given.

Ending was great, if a little maudlin, but still quite satisfying. For those whining they didn't understand or had unanswered questions you weren't paying enough attention or asking the wrong questions.

for the guys asking about the lives of the "the end" survivals I just can say that those are valid questions but they are not THAT important. the only way to wrap up every life after the island is by making a new episode with the "after the island" life, sort of a second O6 season or the plane falling over Hurley's head and killing everyone at once... and yet we know that they died eventually.C'mon we know that everyone dies.And about the spiritual twist... no one said that the whole series would be sci - fi. A lot of the series is Sci - Fi but we always had the "man of science, man of faith" thing and now we have it here, among us. It's just that.

So basically if you were watching it more for the all the mystery and sci-fi parts of it like I was…. you feel screwed over like they just bs’d the whole thing.

But if you were watching it more for the character stories and relationships and back stories about their lives.. then you get nice closure and you’re happy with the ending.

Don’t get me wrong, I liked the characters as much as the next person, but there’s no way I would’ve kept watching this show without all the sci-fi island mystery. With just the character stories and their relationships to each other, the show would’ve been horribly boring. At least that’s what i think. That being said, they should’ve answered more questions and neatly wrapped the mysteries up as well IMO.

Oh and just to remind you, in the dvd we'll be getting 20 more minutes of pure answers. I don't know what they'll be answering but they'll answer things.we might know what happened to walt, maybe he came back after a few years and he is the new jacob and that's how hurley and ben died and the reason why he's not on the church

I can understand wanting to love the ending but it just absolutely screwed the pooch.

The ending was the conclusion to a story, just not the story we'd been watching for the last 6 years.

It's touching, yes. Everyone is together and flashsidewaysland is some sort of purgatory where they realize what their lives were and they move on together. Fine. Is that the story we were following? I don't think so.

What is the island, really? Why does it move in time. Why does it have Egyptian temples with pools that resurrect the dead. I won't bring up Walt but why did Sayid come back from the dead and why was he evil and then kind of good again? Why were the others there? what was their purpose? When the light went out why didn't the world die? How and why did the MIB really become the smoke monster? What was the sickness that people got?

Those are the things we care about. They told us, "Well everyone is happy in heaven after it was over." Yeah... so what?

La-hame! Such ambitious concepts - intellectual, interesting. Seriously, I feel like they just did a dream sequence cop out ending. From my perspective, this show wasn't about the castaways, it was about the island, the world, the cosmos. Yet, in the end, they abandon the island, abandon the ambition, abandon the concepts. I would say it was predictable if I didn't expect more from this creative team. Blech!

I love Josh´s idea on the hand of God that touches the world through the island. It´s succint and it wraps everything up. In any case I am also underwhelmed by this finale, even if I can understand that it could not have had any other ending that did wrap everything up.I get the feeling that the writers were unable to fit everything together and kinda threw the puzzle up in the air and now they just take the stance of letting everyone make-do with the pieces. If you are able to fit them together then you get the point they were intending to make all along, if you don´t then they´ll let you feel like they outsmarted you.In the end if there are enough random pieces lying around you will be able to make some sort of picture, whatever that may be.This is my first ever post in like 3 years of reading this blog, by the way. Regards to everyone, my utmost respect to MikeV for his hard and enlightened work, and it´s been six fun years nonetheless.

No, they died in the plane crash. Your sole had to make it to the light to pass into purgatory where the characters had to find themselves to move on. Watch the last few seconds with the credits I thought that represented the initial crash when they all died. They made up the mythology as a way for them to find redemption before passing through.

ant, I don't know word for word but Eloise asked Desmond why he went through with all of it and if he was going to take her son. Desmond was like, I'm not going to take him implying that Faraday will make his own choice and wind up where he needs to be eventually

@Anonymous 5:47 - Like I said..I wasn't meaning to be condescending there and understood why people are upset. That being said, the producers have been warning us all season that there wouldn't be as many answers as we thought there would be. And they also assured us that we didn't want the answers that we thought we wanted. From some of the answers provided this season, I am pretty content knowing that this season could have been pretty awful if they just sat around answer all of the little questions we have had over the years. And it was a no win situation for them because some of the questions people have had weren't even questions in their mind.

Yes, I fully agree that some things they probably "copped out" on with this approach. But, if they entertained me along the way, I'm totally fine with it. I firmly believe that the most important thing about LOST was the strong characters and their relationships with each other. They were placed in this crazy story together and that's what made it interesting. yes, the mythology was a big part of LOST and we got lots of answers to that over time. But every question we got an answer to led to another question. There was always going to be more questions.

Calbhach brings up the 20 minutes that will be on the DVD....i think they will be "ANSWERS - Driven"....we shall see, but it is exciting to know that. I don't think they purposefully went out of their way to give one big "F" you to the fans who watched for 6 years. They wanted to give their show a satisfying conclusion. And I believe they did it.

They also knew that the end would really annoy people too....so I believe that has happened as well! lol But no one can say that they didn't fully prepare us for this type of ending! Maybe that's why I enjoyed it.

Anyway, I gotta get cracking on the recap if I'm ever gonna get it done. So...that's it for me on these comments (famous last words). I'll be as quick and thorough as I can folks!

@Anonymous - FRANK WAS FLYING THE PLANE! He wasn't dead yet. None of the people on that plane were. Nothing on LOST has ever been told "IN ORDER" ....our disbelief must be suspended even in the end! lol

For example: Kate may have died when she was 80 years old...lived a full life...but then in Sideways she would be there at the same time Jack was there when he died in 2007. Hurley and Ben went on to protect the Island for who knows HOW LONG. But then when they died....they all were there too at the same time.

Christian talks about how "WHEN" doesn't really exist there. I guess I can see it being a tough concept to understand....but once you grasp it...you got it! :-)

Christian says that this place is what they created, it is their heaven. They found each other on the island when they were dead waiting to cross over. That is how I see it anyway. Look at the plane at the end, it does not have the strange wing flaps that like the ajire flight it looked like 815.

E-Bohm....I could agree with your point if we were saying that Jack was starting to see the "Sideways World" as he slipped away....and that he was seeing Sideways Flight 815.... and the next moment we see him would be when he's sitting on that same plane and Rose tells him to "let go".....but I think it just makes sense that Jack was seeing the Ajira flight taking off so he knew he had helped secure his friends' departure from the Island.

Okay..back to the recap! lol (this is really tough for me to stay away, can you tell??)

We got what the writers of the show are trying to say.Beautiful, profound and moving ending.It made perfect sense if one is familiar with Catholic theology/spirituality.Sideways land is "outside of time". Ben and Eloise wanting to linger on a little bit longer before "moving on" - presumably on their own, like Christian Shepherd - was very moving.The questions regarding Walt etc., do not matter at the end of the day.The "outside of time" status can be difficult to comprehend but like Mike V. says, once you grasp it , it makes sense.The Catholic and orthodox faith believe the same "outside of time" nature in the Holy Communion that is participated in at Mass/Divine Liturgy. It is believed to be the SAME sacrifice that was on Calvary 2000 years ago, not a re-enactment but actually the very same sacrifice of Christ made present for all those who were not present on the hill 2000 years ago. It allows believers to be present even if they were born 100s of years after the event. Same concept in season 6 of "Lost".

1. Good short term story telling.2. Terrible long term story telling. 3. Boone was apparently "special". Ha!4. Don't worry about anything that happens because in the end we will all be in a church, with smiling idiots disease. 5. The show was ultimately successful because it garnered lots of advertising dollars, which is all that really matters.

First post ever but had to vent. I understand the ending and also didn't not mind the spirtual direction they choose. But the one feeling/question that the show leaves me with is the pointlessness of the island. The characters fought for so long and hard to not only to correct their situtation but also the situtation of the Island itself only to then die? What was the point? The same result could have been achieved if they had been killed before any resolution with the island had been achieved. The oceanic 6 once free went back for no good reason. So much for free will. They were Manipulated. So in the end we are meant to believe that their tragic time on the Island is what gave their life purpose and meaning. How Sad!!!!!!

Lost is a great show. Jack, in the end, was able to save everyone(and I do mean everyone) which proved to be his theme throughout the entire series. The island timeline wrapped up somewhat neatly, with some questions unfortunately still unanswered.

The characters' stories have always been the reason I watch the show. I have been moved by the backstories in ways few shows have been able to do. That being said, the sideways timeline proved to a complete waste of time using an idea that has already been overused.

The island was NOT purgatory....SIDEWAYS was more of a purgatory than the Island. I'm guessing we're all just not going to see eye to eye on this. I don't think Christian ever said 4 YEARS.....he said that they all died at different times in their lives. WHEN doesn't matter in Sideways.... Rose and Bernard may have lived on the island for 30 more years before dying of Old age. Hugo may have lived for 2000 years if he was protector of the Island.... Kate, Claire, Sawyer may have lived for a long time after 2007 as well......but when they all had died....they met in Sideways land.....WHEN doesn't matter.

As for David Shephard...he never existed. It was Jack coming to terms with his father issues by becoming a father himself. Why they had to do it that way? I'm sure they had their reasons, and I'm sure people smarter than I will come up for explanations for everything that happened in sideways land. But for now...I'm content knowing the end result.

The island had to be purgatory. Go to the light was jacks way to heaven. Desmond told him he was already there so Jack let go of his earthly ties and off he went. Christian opened the Pealr gates so hey all could enter the heaven that he said they all created together.

On an emotional level, it was AMAZING. Best, most moving television of my life. One after another, the flashbacks kept coming in waves and each wave triggered another round of deep emotional response in me. I was most moved by the Jin/Sun flashback, then the Sawyer/Juliet flashback, and then the Sayid/Shannon flashback. I was surprised at how much I was moved by Sayid's flash with Shannon, but I think it's because the guy has been through so much, I feel he deserves some peace! I was thrilled with Jack's arc, and ultimate redemption, and final conversation with Christian. I loved seeing Bernard & Rose again.

But, I also seriously missed seeing Michael and Walt again. And I seriously wanted another Desmond/Penny and Hurley/Libby interaction before checking out. And boy, I felt like no actor got screwed in the show more than the actor who played Chuckie Wid. -- poor guy got completely shut out of the last two episodes. For such an important character, he got far too short a wrapup. But all in all, each of these issues is small change in the big picture. (I may have dropped the grade from an A++ to a mere A+ for these things.)

My Intellectual Response Grade: B-

On an intellectual level, I have been going back and forth. Because of the raw emotional beauty and power of the character storylines, I am more willing to forgive Darlton, at least tonight, for the plot shortcomings I perceive. But I definitely understand those who feel shorted by the lack of certain seemingly key answers. While there are many answers on Lost that I'm willing to let go of, there are some that feel essential to the plot development -- and for which we have no way to make a good educated guess. I have a running list going of these questions, and will post it when it is a little more complete.

Thanks again, Mike, for providing this space for us to take it allllll in!

For a GREAT summary of the four different types of unanswered questions in Lost, including the most critical questions, I recommend this blog posting from a few days ago. It helped me put into perspective which questions are critical, and which aren't.

I think Island Desmond was confused at what he was seeing when he saw the Sideways land. It was the Sideways Desmond that ended up seeing things the most clearly...because at that point he had died some time down the road after returning to Penny and Charlie and living a full life. Hurley's first task as protector was to help Desmond find a way off of the Island.

The Island stakes had to matter for the show to continue to be relevant after it ended. If there's one thing I believe from the creators/producers of the show...is that the things we watched for 6 years transpire on that Island...was NOT purgatory. I think they made that very clear in this episode as well.

That being said, I can agree with arguments that call SIDEWAYS some sort of "waiting place" to MOVE ON to whatever you the next phase of the after life is. Intentionally left ambiguous to not choose a FAITH.

E-Bohm... Why can't you accept that everything in the island was real and the sideways land was purgatory? Christian made it very clear at the end... So did Hugo, telling Ben that he was "a good number 2"...

Of course, we didn't get many answers... But we didn't watch this show for answers... The characters were the important part of the show... And we got the same answers as they did, so...

I thought the ending was fitting... And absolutely awesome... Hell, I cried x'D

Glenn - no problem! I just knew people weren't going to be able to wait until I got this epic recap finished. It's still going to be awhile! Plus...this blog had a blow-up of hits last night that it has never seen. People would have been commenting in last week's blog if I didn't react! LOL

Lindelof and Cruse are Geniuses!They knew exactly what they were doing all along. I'm so convinced of that now. I mean there over 100 comments before 8 am! I've never been so invested in a show in my life, it was everything it promised to be and more. I can't wait to read Mike's re-cap.I went to bed confused, I didn't need all the answsers handed to me on a platter like some people did...that's not what the show was about. If you don't get it, you don't get it....Beautiful story!

I agree with everything calbhach and Mike V are saying. I may not be thrilled with the ending, but I enjoyed every minute of the ride and try not to overthink things! Those of you that are looking for answers to every little thing are just missing the big picture. I think it ended the only way it could. I need to watch again, AFTER I read the recap -- which I can't wait to see! Thanks, Mike, for your hard work! CajunQT

I will say this. I can see both sides of this agruement of which one was purgatory, the island or fsw. However I do think that we deserved a definitive explaination the the writers of what heir intent was. I loved the episode but 6 yes is a mom time to still not know. The fact that we are disagreeing means they did not do a good enough job. When Jack asked what this place was, Christian could have said heaven or purgatory or whatever it was meant to be. Anyway just my two cents.

Oh, and by the way -- I am 100% on Mike's side about purgatory and reality. There is no question -- the island timeline is/was real. The Sideways timeline is/was "Purgatory" or RALGO -- "Remember-and-Let-Go-Land." It's the only explanation that fits, in my mind.

Also, while you all are waiting for Mike to put up his summary, here is a nice posting I'd recommend about the Finale with a substantial breakdown on the character arcs of each of the main characters:

1.if they all died from the very beginning then why do all these people mean something to jack? he doesn't even know them...right? or did he know them and then pass and imagined this flight and adventure to help him find closure?

2.lets say the island is real and jack didn't die till the end. wtf is the island?!?! it's just some crazy location that they happen to land on but not everyone who passes goes there?! wtf?! that just doesn't make sense.

i can't say i was disappointed with the ending. i was entertained but im annoyed that im left with so many damn questions. i understand them all dying at different points and the space jack is in is timeless therefore everyone is their but it still doesn't explain the two points i stated earlier. when did they die? did they all really know each other? what is the island? i don't even care much for the small answers...actually, i do but i'll settle for the bigger picture. i don't feel like we were given that much cause the answer doesn't make sense...right?

OK lets say they were alive on the island and the island is real. So wtf it is just some magical island where all sorts of crazy things can happen. Sounds completely far fetched now that we seen how it ends. It was a place where they could find / redeem themselves before moving on to heaven. The voices and dead people they saw where the angels trying to lead them spent the right path. Agree to disagree

....so what about Michael, Mr. Echo and Anna Lucia? Shouldn't they be at the church in the end as well...? Also, I thought Walt was special. They never explained his importance...Finally, the resolution between Jacob and the Man in Black was really anticlimactic and quick for two characters with a long and deep history.The final episode fore was satisfying, but opened up more questions...that will probably never be answered....

I was very disappointed…Did we really need all the flash sideways for the entire season? Basic Flashbacks would have answered more questions. What happened if Flocke left island? First Widmore says they would cease to exist but then he has the option to save his daughter? Epic fail and worse than the Soprano’s ending…We watched purgatory for the entire season ughh…So they want to be with all people from the island before they pass but not their loved ones? Mothers, brothers etc...

Mike you did a fantastic job with the blog and to all posters I thoroughly enjoyed all your comments…

I don't think I would be this frustrated if the producers hadn't ruled out the theory of it being purgatory since the first season. In all their interviews from the past six years they routinely said it was not that. So to have it end the way it did was a bit disappointing.

OK one last post and question for the FSW purgatory people. The atom bomb set off the FSW as we saw earlier in the swain. How were most of the characters in both places at once? Either Jack and others we alive on the island or dead and in purgatory in the fsw. Please answer that one and maybe I come on board.

E-Bohm, there is plenty to debate...but I do not think that THAT was meant to be up for debate.

We had already settled on the fact that there were parts of this story that were pure FANTASY (based on some elements of science)....the Island was a special place...and it DID exist. It's all in Christian's speech about how everything they had been through was REAL. We don't have to understand why. They were never going to answer why. They even said at the beginning of this season they had no plans on answering why or WHAT the Island actually is. The answers we got? CORK, and PROTECT THE LIGHT or else the world goes bye bye. We don't need to know why, just the fact that they were doing something to give purpose to their lives and SAVE all of humanity somehow.

But, I'm not going to sit here and try and convince you. If you don't want to think that, that's all on you!

back to the recap! (don't worry...it IS coming along folks...i just get so tempted to come here and chat!)

Still trying to reflect on what went down but some initial thoughts. When Sun & Jin had their awakening, it reminded me that this was the last episode and it would not be like the others. They weren't going to explain it all but they would be bringing closure to the characters. Kinda of obvious but it allowed me to sit back & enjoy the ride w/o getting too critical.

A few thoughts

Hurley set the rules so they all could be together. & they did not die alone

Why didn't Hurley get to take Libby with him to the light. Desmond got to take Penny & she wasn't a major character. Contract issue?

Had a Buddhism - finally reaching nirvana kinda vibe.

What did happen when the bomb went off?

Good cinematic scene with battle on top of the mountain with Jack & Locke.

Why weren't people like Ana Lucia or miles ready? I'd say it was because they weren't dead yet but not the case with Ana. – guess they weren’t invited to the party.

Wouldn't the last person dead be the one to join the group (Hurley)

Like St Thomas the Apostle - I just can't seem to wrap my head around it - but I will eventually believe.

As for a LOST Book....I'd be first in line to buy one too! There will be an encyclopedia that comes out 8/24 with the DVD/Blu-Ray....and there will be 20 minutes of additional storyline potentially answering questions that couldn't be covered in season 6 on the DVD/Blu-Ray...so there is more coming!

Thanks Penner...I appreciate the kind words!

I really need to stop looking at these comments! :-) lol I'll be working on this thing at midnight tonight! lol

This episode left me with the same feeling i felt after Super Bowl XLII. The writers of LOST were slowly marching toward Greatness and perfection just like the New England Patriots in 2007. They were excuting all the emotional scenes and had a Perfect Season all set for the taking. However, one play changed the entire ending of that game and story in much the same way one scene changed the way Lost will be judged forever. We can all sit here and try to understand it and find way to make it work but in the end we all LOST. So Close.... So Close.......

The bomb goes off and we see them on the plane. Rose tells Jack it is OK to let go( because he is dead ) but wait he is alive on the island. Can't have it both ways unless they just messed up. Again I love the episode but tells us what you want it to be

My husband and I are utterly confused - please help us to understand a few things - 1)Who was Widmore and why was Desmond working for him and how does that fit into everything? 2) Why did some of the people on the Island see the boys in the woods and some not see them? 3) What was the Dharma initiative and who were the others? 4) Who was Richard? 5) Did they all leave the Island and come back? What did that mean? 6) Why did some people die multiple times? 7) Did they die on the Island or off the Island? 8) How did Kate die? 9) Who was Jack's son and why did the show give him a son? 10) What is the "Island"? 11) Was all of the super natural stuff on the Island real? 12) Did the plane full of people at the end "leave" the island? I could go on and on, but these are just some

Mike - you are too funny - you can't stay out of the conversation long enough to get the recap done. LOL

Deebo - I feel ya about the whole I waited for all of you but they didn't want to be with family.

But - most of them had crappy family lives. Kates mom turned her in, Shannon's step-mom cut her off when her dad died, Penny seemed to dislike her dad, Walt barely knew his dad, etc. So while it's def a stretch to say that these people meant more to eachother than family - I can live with it.

I get it!! I think.. But am a little confused.. I am going to use Sawyer as an example - re: Sideways world, if it was "purgatory" was Sawyer a cop?? did his parents die because of Anthony Cooper and he lived a life (Sideways) trying to find him to get revenge... but when he was re-united with Juliet he was "awakened" and then moved on to "heaven".. so what happened to his life in SW?? Did everyone in the police force think he went missing - he obviously did not go back into work... ?? I hope you know what I mean, it is so hard to put it into words... I just don't get how Sideways world worked... if it was a place for them to all meet in order to move on, then what life were they living in Sideways?? Who are all the other people that are in that world - are they all dead too and living a second life trying to be awakened to move on??? I did enjoy the year journey and I understand why it ended the way it did, just a little confused.. I could barely sleep last night thinking about what the heck happened.. I know how sad am I!!

Guys, the island is real, their lives are real. The "alternate reality" flashes are really flashes into the future. A future that in theory could be 400 years ahead in time (If we think how long Harley would have lived to protect the island). But it was a place where time didn't matter since "they created it" to wait for all of them to make the last journey to the afterlife. The island was never purgatory, but the alternate reality was.

Desmond was the key since he flashed through time... and one of his stops (or a few) was that purgatory in the future. That is why Ela Hawking met him there once saying "You cannot change the past".

Anonymous 9:23 - Aaah - but some of us are GIANTS fans and loved that Super Bowl game.! LOL And those fans were VERY happy with the outcome. Because it wasn't just one play that changed the game, but many plays that added up in the end. And many players stepping up at the right time to enable that fabulous ending.

In one of the reruns from the beginning of the season, the caption concerning the "Flash Sideways" stated that it was called a flash sideways and it shows it what would have happened if Flight 815 did not crash. Anyone else remember this? Given what we now know, I don't see how that is possible.

I did love the finale, and I'm still soaking it all in with the rest of you all!

Sawyer was never a cop. Neither was Miles. Yes - his parents died because of Anthony Cooper cause that happened in the orig island timeline - and Sawyer killed Cooper on the island. He did not go back to the police in LA cause he never worked there.

Think of it as like their imagination. None of them got to LA because the plane did not get back there - it landed on the island. But while waiting to go to heaven they were in a waiting room and all had imaginary lives in LA like the crash did not happen. But once they all met up they let go of their imaginary lives and moved on to heaven.

FUDGEthey do have it up on Huluthey are rerunning this episode saturady. Me and a buddy gigured they wouldnt put it up till next week. I was talking to my sound friend last night and if we get the DVD we are just going to edit the last part and end it when Jack kissed Kate :)

I was moved by the ending and thought it was a beautiful way to wrap up the show. This is the first time I've cried during lost since the episode where Charlie drowned.

The message I was left with is that everyone is living their own mythology/heroes story. Though we won't ever know all the 'answers' about this magical island; it was a place that allowed the characters to test themselves and create rich, real experiences with each other.

When the characters look back at their lives from the 'meeting place' they remember the moments of love, joy, beauty and growth that they shared with others.

I just found your blog! How funny. Anyway, I think you are correct: All that we saw was real, Sideways Timeline was post-death for the characters. However, I don't agree that everyone was waiting for Jack. Jack died before Hurley, Kate, Ben, etc. I think the "Waiting Room" was in the future, after everyone died. Over time. Kate says to Jack, "I missed you so much!" when she sees him after a lifetime of living without him. Hurley says to Ben, "You were a great #2," so clearly they lived on the island for long enough to be able to say that.

Okay. But as I am writing this, I am changing my mind! Maybe we only saw Jack's "Waiting Room" version because he is the one that died. In his version, he gets to see his dad and everyone comes together because that is his ultimate Heaven: love and connection and friendship. Maybe if we say Kate's "Waiting Room" it would have been different.

The construct of a television show is limiting, making it both harder to tell the story exactly as intended but also open for mystery and uncertainty. I think people watching for answers could never have been happy. Sometimes the answer is, "The actor playing Walt was growing up too fast and we couldn't work that into the show." Can't really say that!

I can't say I loved it because I am heartbroken that Jack died. But I am not saying that I hated it because of that either. I definitely had fun watching it and feel satisfied that it is definitely over. The writers did a great job completing certain things, like getting people off the island, ending MIB's story line and whether or not the island survived. We know there won't be a movie.

Thanks for being clear-headed about all of this. Looking forward to more of your views.

@ Floringood one on the end musical selection. Lost is beautiful and yes will live forever.

@ MikeGood call on the Jack closes eye scene. Richard DID start aging.The mystery of Christian pretty much solved. Whoever called that Jack would not be Island protector for very long...props as well! What a fun ride. This final ep was INTENSE. My earlier post that I deleted What about Walt? was a joke. I think it's cool that we wont know MIB's name. Certainly I'm not going to argue w/ people that didn't like the show. If you didn't "get it" "I'm Sorry" It was a good time for me.

I believe the island was real but flash sideways was the actual purgatory. Each person dies at their own place in time on the island but they come together in sideways land. Ben and Hurley continued to protect the island long into the future until one day, they too eventually died. When all of the characters passed, they moved to flash sideways. They couldn't leave purgatory unless all of them left together

Way too many religious overtones for my liking but this whole season was just disappointing…None of our core mysteries came back in to play…So if Sayid get into heaven with Shannon (really? no Nadia) after he has murdered like 4 people about 12 hours ago?

@MJ- They did have crappy lives and that is a good point but I just wanted more out of the sideways world…What was the point of showing the island underwater in LAX? If FLocke was powerless when the light in the island went out, what was he really going to do when he got to the real world?

Come on people! The finale was great. You are supposed to THINK and figure things out for yourself. The writers/producers do not spoon feed us answers and that is why the show is awesome! Here are some of my theories:

WHAT IS THE ISLAND?@Josh 2:30 AM, May 24, 2010: Thanks for your input. Very interesting. I agree; the island is some sort of gateway between the human physical world and God's ethereal world. The light, called the Source, is just a glimpse of this other realm. As Eve explained, humans are attracted to the light and always want more of it by nature. We cannot help it b/c we are human and flawed ("they come, they corrupt"). The light provides the unique healing and electromagnetic properties of the island. Also, the island is a real place! The last six years were definitely real!

WHY WOULD THE WORLD END IF THE ISLAND WAS DESTROYED?The world as humans know it is a physical place (literally "earth" or dirt). Our physical world cannot contain the energies from a realm that we cannot understand. When Desmond uncorked the island in the finale, the island began to crumble apart. My theory is that if it had remained uncorked, eventually that Source energy would have spread to the entire world. First the island would sink into the ocean. Then the continents would crumble. The entire world would be destroyed by the energy. MIB escaping the island would have been the equivalent of the energy being released as well.

WHY WERE THERE TEMPLES AND WELLS AND STATUES?I theorize that over the years mankind sometimes found the island and tried to control the island's special light. Again, mankind would always have this urge. The Egyptians built statues and temples. The MIB's village people dug wells and installed donkey wheels. The US military were conducting special experiments. The Dharma Initiative created stations and studied the electromagnetic energy.

WHY DID THE ISLAND MOVE AND TIME TRAVEL?As @ calbhach 2:59 AM, May 24, 2010 explained... It moves throught time AND space/geography to purposely stay hidden. It needs to stay hidden because 1) the world will end if the island is "uncorked"; 2) Mankind will always have a desire to "uncork" the island Source in seek of answers.

WHO WERE THE OTHERS?The Others were Jacob's followers. He recruited them to help him keep MIB at bay, keep the island hidden, and keep the Source protected. Sometimes they did creepy things like steal children or kill people, but they thought they were acting for the greater good to protect the world.

WHAT WAS THE DEAL WITH WHIDMORE AND BEN?Whidmore got his first taste of the island's power while a member of the US military. He eventually joined the Others. However, he was banished from the Others b/c he wanted to exploit the island's powers too. That is why he was always trying to find the island and brought special scientists like Farraday to the island. Ben also wanted the island power all to himself, which eventually corrupted him.

WHAT WERE THE NUMBERS? Jacob assigned the numbers to candidates. As a guardian, maybe he understood them? The numbers were also part of the Valenzetti Equation, which was again an attempt by mankind to explain something we didn't understand: the Source. The numbers appeared often throughout the series, b/c they were a connection to the Source.

WHY DID SOME ISLANDERS GET "INFECTED"?As I said before, humans always want answers and power. Attempts to control the island's Source would always backfire. We saw this with MIB losing his corporal form and being corrupted by the power. We saw Rousseau's team become infected after entering the temple, and exploring it's secrets. MIB tried to recruit his own followers by corrupting people (he poisoned Claire's mind with desire for revenge). Sayid was infected b/c the ceremony to bring him back to life didn't completely work. The temple-dwellers really had no idea what they were messing with. I think that these efforts by humans to control the light Source would always backfire. Mankind is not meant to wield or understand that sort of power.

WHY DID DESMOND HAVE TO PUSH THAT BUTTON?The Dharma were messing with energies they didn't understand. They drilled too deep and released a pocket of energy. Just like the waterfall cave with the cork, this energy had to be contained to keep it from swallowing the entire world. The Dharma then created a machine to diffuse the energy every 108 minutes. It had to be manually controlled by someone pushing the button. When Desmond didn't push the button once, he helped crash the Oceanic flight. When the hatch imploded, it somehow sealed that particular leak of energy.

WHAT HAPPENED WHEN THE BOMB WENT OFF AT THE END OF SEASON 5?Nothing happened b/c it didn't go off. The flash of light was saw was another Time Shift, jolting the Dharma Losties back into present time. As we later learned, Flash Sideways had nothing whatsoever to do with the bomb. The bomb was a dud, probably because it was so old and also leaking.

WHO WAS JACOB? WHO WAS EVE? WHO WAS MIB?They were just people, just humans, who came to island by accident. The island has always had a protector. The protector chooses a successor. The protector is still human, and capable of both good and evil. Eve was a protector. She chose Jacob. Jacob chose Jack. Jack chose Hurley. Eventually, Hurley will choose someone too. MIB was just a human who was corrupted by his desire to control the island Source and leave. He did evil acts like murder, but so did Jacob. His desire to destroy the island and all its guardians consumed him, and he would stop at nothing to accomplish his goal. So he seemed like pure evil, but he was still just a man once.

WHY DID SOME PEOPLE HAVE POWERS?People were affected in different ways by the island's energies. John Locke was able to walk again. Rose was cured of her cancer. Hurley could see ghosts. Miles could get a read on dead people too (remember, he was on the island as a baby before returning as an adult). I think Walt had some sort of teleportation power. And of course, some people were corrupted by the energies: MIB, Ben, Claire, Sayid, Whidmore, and maybe Eloise Hawking? Desmond had the ability to see into the future. He was the constant, because he was somehow immune to the dangerous corruption of the Source energies.

WHAT WAS FLASH SIDEWAYS?The Sideways realm was a transitional hub to the next life. It could be thought of as Purgatory, or even just God's Waiting Room. People's souls gather there and wait until they are ready to move on.

The "reality" of this realm is whatever a person's soul needed it to be for them to gain closure. For Sawyer, he was on the side of the law as a police officer, not against it as a conman. For Kate, she was innocent of her accused crime. For Hurley, he was extremely lucky and loved by all. For Claire, she was keeping her baby and had found family. For Sayid, he was able to protect Nadia and his family. For Jack, he had the positive "Father/Son" relationship he always wanted, except with a role reversal of who was the Father. For Locke, he had come to terms with his paralysis and had the love of Helen and his Dad. For Ben, he was able to put "daughter" Alex ahead of his desire for power. Even bit players had found some sort of peace: Miles had the love of his father, Daniel Farraday was now Daniel Whidmore (which gave him identity), Juliet was working in the OB field she loved.

It didn't matter what order people died in, b/c time did not exist there. The Losties had to recognize each other and remember their Earthly life. They had to Let Go. They had to love each other and forgive. Once they were able to do this, they could move into the Light and finally experience heaven, or God's realm. The island provided a glimpse, but after death, they were able to find the real thing.

Ben "At least Jacob let us have fun. he called people to the island we could mess with thier heads llaugh when smokey chased them. All you have done for the last 2000 years is stair at that Mr Clucks Chicken poster in your back pocket."

Hurley "It only ends once and everything else is just a bucket of Crispy fried chicken..."

I'm slowly warming up to the ending, and I do believe the island was real, but I just want to clarify why those of us who hated the ending may feel the way we do. Over the last six years, we were trained/required to analyze every inch of our TV screens looking for clues to this show. We over analyzed every halfway seemingly important word these characters uttered. We've been taught to take little at face value. To serve up an ending that says "don't worry about unanswered questions...they're not important" isn't in line with what we've been asked to do for so long. So, it is disappointing in that regard. Just sayin'.

Wow. All I can say after watching that finale is that I want the last 6 years of my life back so that I can forget I was ever a fan of Lost. That was one of the worst endings to a series since Roseanne. I took Mike's advice and didn't buy into the hype around the finale, instead keeping my expectations low. My thought was that as long as the ending was satisfying, I'd be okay with that. I could live with not knowing the answers to the questions I had. Well holy freakin' crap. The entire episode was great, and I thought to myself that it was going to be an epic ending. Well, I was dead wrong! That joke of an ending makes me regret ever watching this show. Note to all readers: Seasons 1 & 2 on DVD on sale dirt cheap! Let me know if you wanna buy. What a freakin' waste.

You either liked the ending or hated it. I have convinced myself to like it. I think the writers don't want us to have all the questions answered. That would go against what the show and life is all about. Plus then LOST would be like every other cookie cutter show created and I know I don't want that. LOST allows the viewers to draw their own perspective and conclusion.

I personally believe the island events took place. The last scene (which I need to re-watch) panned out and showed how the planecrash sight was inhabited. That was a BIG answer right there - Was the island real? YES! The island and its characters are what us viewers related to and they needed to be real because they were most important to us the viewers. Remember what Hugo and Ben said to each other in their last conversation: 'You were a good #2 and you were a good #1" PROVES the island was REAL!! I believe the others died one by one on the island. Somehow Jack was last on the island alive. The funeral was for Jack and that is why the coffin was empty!

In my little conclusion, it is a show about faith and destiny. Everyone's faith and journey is different and so our perseptions and perspectives of the show must be as well. Every viewer leaves with a different ending just as we do in life... and death.

Gee I so hated this season,full of hope but lacking any sense. The ending sucked,cause it didn't give us anything,other then to believe in God. I didn't want a bible show! Well I'm sorry they let us down! I for one and glad it's done,since this year was the worst one they made.

Did you guys notice that the place JAck woke up after fixing the island was in the exact same place and same position Jacob found his dead brother? Also, I just saw a comment about Jack being the last to die. I guess this is totally possible since he may have moved extremely forward in time. Maybe that is why the ending seemed so "Jack Centric". Nice call.

I thought the last 10-15 minutes were the writers' attempt to create the same kind of Soprano's jump-to-black ending that caused so much debate. They wanted it to be open to interpretation for years to come, especially the question of whether the island plots were real life or purgatory. Judging by the debate in this thread, they did a good job.

I actually find E-Bohm's theories interesting, and think they jive well with the Anonymous poster who posted at 7:41am that included the Wikipedia definition of purgatory.

The last scene of the final had some stuff in it that hasn't been mentioned yet in this thread. I thought it was a merging of Jack's death after 6 years on the island (or in purgatory), his passing into heaven (the church scene), and his actual death during the first plane crash (where they ALL died in the physical sense).

The writers seemed to go out of their way to recreate Jack's opening scene in the pilot. Was I the only one to see the sneaker hanging from the bamboo tree as he was stumbling through the field? That was the first clue that he was returning to his actual moment of death (the first plane crash). He then lays down in a field to die, exactly where he opens his eyes in the pilot to start his spiritual journey in purgatory.

The dog is with him, just like his first scene in the pilot. Another clue.

With the merging of all these endings for Jack, the plane he saw might have been Sideways Flight 815 -- he sees the whole loop of entering their imaginings in purgatory of how their lives might have been.

If the entire series was them in purgatory, they found their better souls there before letting go, and all the island life was their journey together -- the others they met (Ben, Penny, etc.) were already in purgatory and joined them on this journey.

But I love that I could easily be wrong about all this, and that we'll debate it forever. I'm pretty sure that's what the writers wanted. Sometimes a play has a very tidy ending, but there have been great plays -- notably DOUBT -- which intentionally left itself open to various interpretations.

OMG, I am just awed by the show and by this blog. I love, love, loved it. I loved how there are no answers to some questions. I loved that it's all about "free will". I just bawled at the sight of Jack dying with vincent by his side. OMG, please Mike V, hurry with your words of wisdom. I feel like I just lost some of my best friends. No more LOST, what a horrible thought.

This show hurt my brain, but in a good way. Last night was amazingly frustrating. Left with so many more questions than answers. Initially, we thought they all died in the plane. If that was the case, then Sawyer would not have known Julia, and she was there, and so was Penny and Desmond. So that theory doesn't hold water. My mind is still swimming... Looking forward to more thoughts.

I don't understand why there is so much confusion. I don't think there was any confusion about what happened. The Island timeline was real. They all lived and died as they did - whatever happened, happened. Much, much later, possibly at the end of time, when they all had died (whether on the island as we had seen or off island in their own natural courses for the few who made it), they reconnected in an afterlife - the Sideways timeline. So profoundly sad... everyone who lived to make it off the island had to live out their lives without their loved ones. And Ji Yeon without her parents. I guess Rose, Bernanrd, and Ben were the only winners in life.

Why do I care that after they die, they meet up in a sideways world? I thought I was waiting for SIX YEARS to find out what the heck the island was all about! Stupid me. That ending had NOTHING to do with the LOST I've been watching, but very clever to hide that fact behind mushy reunions so the lame would not notice what a waste of time that ending was. Kudos.

I can understand people wanting 'answers'...but reading almost every post on this blog here, some of you already have the answers. Just watch the show. People are just rambling on and on about this and that not being answered. Especially with what are silly things. For example....

""Why were they polar bears attacking people??""

>> Because they are bears and polar bears can be predatory to humans. Duh. Not to be a wiseass there, but that question is overthinking things.

"""what happened to charles whitmore??"""

>> He died in the next to last episode. Ben Linus shot him. Didn't you see it?

"""why did hurley said not to help the policewoman(no remember name) to remember yet???"""

>> I can't even make out this question? If it is referring to Ana Lucia, Hurley didn't wake her up from her Purgatory because she was not one of the original group. Desmond (in the last few episodes) 'woke up' so to speak in the purgatory and made it his mission to round everyone up, get them together, so they can move on. They were 'lost' (yet again, this time in Purgatory) and was reconnecting them all, so they could be at peace...again..move on.

"""why couldnt "evil" locke leave the island??"""

>> This was also answered. Perhaps more so in a mythological way than scientific way, but answered. The original man (MIB) became the smoke monster, part of the essence of the island....and he could not leave it as well as the island had a protector guarding it (or one of the replacement candidates). There is no mystery here at all.

Take a moment and reflect upon what you watched. Most of these questions people are clamoring for, to be answered, have already been done so.

i think gidgitgirl nailed it. i don't understand why it is so hard for people to understand that the island timeline and all of the flash forwards and flash backs were real. the only thing that wasn't "real" was the flash sideways. that was the "reality" that they created so that they could all find each other before they all moved on together. as christian said, the island was the most important time that any of them spent. i agree that there were quite a few questions that weren't answered, but who cares. the story was about the people and there evolution from lost souls to basically a family. if you want to answer the question, "what is the island?" then you can answer it by saying that it was the thing that brought them all together and nothing more. it is a story about people and relationships, and a very good one at that.

Horrible. I almost wanted to throw the remote into the screen when Jack and Kate had their I LOVE YOU moment on the rock. So contrived. So Obvious. Tons of wasted energy in the show -- things just don't make sense and they couldn't find a way to end it, so they went Hollywood and had everyone cry and love each other. Honestly, I could've done without the last 4 seasons now that it ends like this.

Yeah, I wasn't crazy about the last two episodes, but last nights 2 1/2 hour finale was absolutely the best 2 1/2 hours on TV EVER! I realized how much I was in love with all the characters and what they went through. It was so profound to me when the characters started recognizing each other. I love the concept that they were all souls on a journey through time learning the lessons they needed to learn before moving on. I always thought it was purgatory since Season 1. The reason I knew that was because of Jacks Dad who was running through the jungle. It only made sense that he was passing through. What an amazing journey. I have to say that I've never been so moved my a TV show in my entire life and that my friends would be 40 years.

Gidget Girl, thanks for the recap "answers." They make sense. My boyfriend and I had pretty much come to the same conclusions, so it's great to see someone else has put these down in words. Everything really happened! Even the sideways "happened" just not in the way that people want it to be - the physical reality. I loved the show and the ending!

It happened. It was part of the real world. The only thing that was purgatory was the side flashways in season six. When Jack died at the end, that wasn't a replay of season one. It was the real timeline, three years plus after the original crash. He saved the island, was wounded, and then walked back out of the cave. The writers, to create some symbolism and unity...just had him die in the same spot where he first woke up in the original crash of '04.

JB, maybe because when the island was uncorked he became vulnerable. Either that or when Jack became the protector of the island, the 'rule' that the brothers couldn't hurt each other didn't apply anymore.

I do appreciate the ending - but still feel like there was a bit too much left to the imagination. I'm clearly not as smart as some of the posters who have it all figured out. Perhaps I am the minority but I'd guess more than a few people are wondering whether the island was real. If so you have to have some kind of explanation for everything - Dharma, Jacob, MIB, lighthouse, time travel the list goes on. That stuff is UNREAL and cannot get left unexplained AT ALL! Not buying the 'Island is Real' way out so easily. How can it be real? I am only content believing they all died in the crash and all their souls were working together. The Island is purgatory and Sideways was some kind of 'Purgatory Lite'.I have to finish Kimmel as it was way too late here but I can't imagine it all gets explained there. Will be interested with the alternate endings. If it's not real and they all died in the crash then why in the world would we have storylines that have absolutely nothing to do with Jack (everyone else's old history)?

That said, I was prepared for this ending actually. It was the first theory me and friend put out there. However, I just don't know why all the other stuff which was so detailed - again Dharma, time travel. Why The Face? People have every reason to be scratching their heads for a few reasons. It's too easy to say "Great!" when it clearly seems they had twelve different storylines/herrings on the go for apparently no real reason. I would like to think that they all died in the crash and all their souls were working together towards a common goal - redemption and salvation. So why do Kate and Sawyer and 250 year old Richard get off the island?? Just. Plain. Weird. We would assume Richard finds a girl gets married and has kids in LA and Kate and Sawyer live happily ever after raising a buck of wisecracking kids - and yet Kate meets Jack in the church? Come on. It was an ending to what apparently was a convoluted 5 year prelude.

They all die on the island and I have far less of a problem with the ending. I don't need it all wrapped up nice and tight but I need it to make a bit of sense. This ending left a lot to be desired.

I still have to watch the rest of Kimmel tonight and hope Kate/Evangeline makes an appearance. I crashed after they brought out Michael et al wondering why no Kate - probably the most memorable and 2nd most important character in the show. Maybe they time traveled her in after Jack/Matthew's appearance after I fell asleep...

Oh yeah, Desmond. Jack saved him and he's still stuck on the island? Nice. If he doesn't just walk off the nearest cliff he's made of stronger stuff than me.

Loved it :) For the people knocking the loose ends, I think thats kind of the point. Its stuff that happened that is just things in our life that shape us, but in the end mean nothing. The important people in their lives were there at the end, they all waited for each other, and crossed into the light together.

A great, poetic ending. Can't say that I absolutely loved the ending, but I get what they were saying (at least I think I do :)). They didn't answer every question, but that is the beauty of this show. It created a new world for us to explore. Sad to see it go.

Didn't read all the comments, but needed to post here. First of all, completely made sense that sideways world was purgatory, Christian said everything that happened on the island was real ... so there really isn't a question there, is there?? I think the most fitting thing about the finale, was the interviews beforehand where Locke (Terry O'Quin) said that like a good book, you don't want it to end, but when you close the book, you look back and say, that was pretty damn good. The finale felt incredible like the end of a book where it does slow down, tie up the loose ends that NEED to be tied, and leave you with a feeling of awe in how good it was. Well done Lost ...

When the Man in Black was kicked down the hole by Jacob, he seemingly floated into the pool of gold and became the smoke monster. SOOOOOOO when Jack plugged the cork back in, he was in the gold water. He then appeared at the same spot the Man In Black's body did. How come Jack didn't become the new Smoke Monster? That would of been an awesome twist.

-They did not die in the plane crash. Everything was REAL. Christian said this to Jack in the church.

-Jack died at the end of the show, in island time. His dad told him that it was real, and that his friends died too... some before him and some after him... so I am led to believe that Kate, Sawyer, etc. went on to live a long happy life. They died at ripe old ages, and everyone ended up in the sideways universe. (btw I was a big hater of sideways land... I completely understand and love it now)

-I wouldn't necessarily call it purgatory (the sideways universe). Christian said it was a place that they created so that they could find each other again. That is not purgatory (correct me if I am wrong? I say this only because I think purgatory is where you go to figure out if you are going to heaven or hell? But everyone not going to heaven, like Michael, is stuck on the island because they were not redeemed... so says Harold Perrineau on Kimmel last night).

-So, I choose to call it their heaven rather than purgatory... hehe

-I cried. Boohooed in fact. Good call Mike V. on the last scene being Jack's eye closing. The whole last 15 minutes was so beautiful, and if you hated it then I feel bad for you!

-Jimmy Kimmel replayed the scene from LA X where Jack gets all scared during the turbulence then realizes they are safe. He asked Matthew Fox if this was the point where he died in island time and "crossed-over" and Fox seemed to agree! WOW!